David Bowes-Lyon Explained

Honorific Prefix:The Honourable
Sir David Bowes-Lyon
Honorific Suffix:KCVO
Birth Date:1902 5, df=y
Death Place:Birkhall, Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Resting Place:St. Paul's Walden Bury
Children:Davina Dalrymple, Countess of Stair
Simon Bowes-Lyon
Parents:Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck
Relatives:Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (sister)
Elizabeth II (niece)
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (niece)
Office:High Sheriff of Hertfordshire
Primeminister:Clement Attlee
Predecessor:Walter Hugh Crosland
Successor:Sir William Acland, Bt
Office2:Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire
Term Start2:1952
Term End2:1961
Monarch2:George VI
Elizabeth II
Primeminister2:Winston Churchill
Anthony Eden
Harold Macmillan
Predecessor2:The Viscount Hampden
Successor2:Sir George Burns
Term:1950

Sir David Bowes-Lyon KCVO (2 May 1902[1] – 13 September 1961) was the tenth and youngest child and the sixth son of Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and Cecilia Nina Cavendish-Bentinck. He was the younger brother of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and uncle to Queen Elizabeth II.[2]

Marriage and issue

On 6 February 1929, David Bowes-Lyon married Rachel Pauline Spender-Clay (19 January 1907 – 21 January 1996), younger daughter of Herbert Henry Spender-Clay, they had two children:

Later life

During World War II, Bowes-Lyon was a member of the secret propaganda department Political Warfare Executive. He was High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1950 and Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire from 1 July 1952 until his death.

On 15 December 1948, Bowes-Lyon attended the christening of his great-nephew Prince Charles. He was one of eight sponsors of the prince, along with King George VI, King Haakon VII of Norway, Queen Mary, Princess Margaret, the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, Patricia, Lady Brabourne, and Prince George of Greece and Denmark. [3]

As a keen gardener, Bowes-Lyon was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour in 1953 and served as president of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1953 to 1961.[4] [5] In 1960, he commanded the third World Orchid Conference.[6]

Bowes-Lyon was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1959 Birthday Honours.

Death

Bowes-Lyon died at his sister Elizabeth's home, Birkhall, on the Balmoral estate, of a heart attack after suffering from hemiplegia on 13 September 1961, aged 59. The Queen Mother discovered him dead in bed.[7] The funeral was held at Ballater, and he was buried at St Paul's Walden Bury. His widow died thirty-four years later on 21 January 1996, aged 89.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Thornton, Michael. Royal feud: the Queen Mother and the Duchess of Windsor. 29 July 2013. September 1985. M. Joseph. 9780718126001.
  2. Book: Gardeners Chronicle & New Horticulturist. 29 July 2013. 1954. Haymarket Publishing.
  3. Web site: The Christening of Prince Charles. Royal Collection Trust. February 18, 2022.
  4. Book: Fletcher, Harold Roy. The story of the Royal Horticultural Society, 1804–1968. 29 July 2013. 1969. Oxford U. P. for the Royal Horticultural Society. 978-0-19-212944-4.
  5. Book: The Lily Year Book. 29 July 2013. 1959. Royal Horticultural Society.
  6. Book: Proceedings of the Third World Orchid Conference. 29 July 2013. 1960. Royal Horticultural Society.
  7. Book: Vickers, Hugo. Elizabeth: The Queen Mother. Arrow Books/Random House. 2006. 978-0-09-947662-7. 394 .